Budget Spray Guns
A finisher reports decent results from a cheap spray gun. June 28, 2006
Question
I have recently been expressing my pleasure with the 20 dollar gravity guns from Grizzly and last week I decided to order half dozen more since they are so cheap. I can use them for different colors and not have to clean in between. About the only gripe I had with the first gun was that the cup was made of a thinner plastic than the other guns I have and that made it prone to cracking, which it did by the threaded insert. Much to my surprise when I opened the new boxes, Grizzly has made a few nice changes to the guns that make them even better. First they put a new heavier cup on the gun. This cup also has a new piece by the cap threads that looks like it is designed to keep the contents from getting to the cap threads and gunking them up. They also redesigned the tip with more air holes for better atomization.
I put one together Friday and used it to spray a few cabinets with a black pigmented WB finish and the atomization of this heavy coating went very well and I am happy with the finish it produced. I think I am done buying high dollar guns (I will keep my AAA for volume spraying) and will continue to get more of these. If you are looking for a low dollar gun for your shop, I highly recommend these guns.
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor A:
I bought two of those guns after I read about them here. One had a split at the thread insert at the cup and the other didn't. It sprayed a good finish. I liked the fast clean-up and change-over to different finish materials, as I was doing color schedules for door samples. This is a good addition to my HVLP, pressure pot, and AAA.
From the original questioner:
That was the one thing I didn't like about the first gun too. I wonder if you got the older style and not the updated one. Also look at the 3256 mini gun. It is also a nice little detail gun.
From contributor B:
Thanks for the tip on these. Looks like the perfect solution for some throw away El Cheapo guns. I hate breaking out my Bandit or AAA for small stuff. These are so cheap, you could easily dump the cost of one into a single job. If they clean and work again, it's gravy.
From contributor C:
Is it an HVLP gun though? it doesn't say so. I guess though for the price a better question might be does it matter?
From the original questioner:
I stand corrected, the 3256 mini gun says it's an HVLP, the other one does not specify. But yes, for that price, I am not concerned with the title.
From contributor D:
I bought the $20 gun and the manual says its an HVLP - it came with a 1.4mm needle and the air pressure at the gun is 20 - 50 psi. I'll let you know how it sprays Target Coatings in a week or so.
From the original questioner:
I think you will find it sprays it pretty well. So far I have run CV, black tinted CV, Vantech 482 thick formula WB in both clear and tinted black with ICA CNA stains, NC lacquer and acrylic paint and it sprays all of them without thinning. One thing I did find is in the cap for the cup where the airhole is, there was some plastic from the molding process that was restricting the airflow and I wasn't getting much material out when I was spraying, but after I ran a small drill bit to open the hole up to the right size, it made a world of difference.
